After a week of recovery from Manakau, and with bad weather on the horizon, I decided to make the short trip to Lake Coleridge for another running peak, this time slightly less climb to Peak Hill (1240m), a classic Canterbury day walk.
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Canterbury
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Peak 27: Manakau
The mountains are calling you… well that was the talk in the office this week. After copious amounts of persuasion (thank you Silvia) I decided to take on the task of climbing Manakau (2608m) with a couple of friends (in the end there were seven of us), the highest peak in the Seaward Range of the Kaikouras.
Getting my act together over Winter has been an interesting challenge. In the height of Summer I didn’t even regard Winter as a challenge (as we’d had a good 5 weeks of blue skies in January) so thought that I’d be able to manage it all the way through with no issues. How wrong I was… into July and a good 5 weeks behind schedule after a few failed attempts, things started to look ominous for the whole 52.
After last week’s rest and gap due to terrible weather in the mountains, I decided to get an easier peak, hopefully managing to run the whole thing too instead of wallowing in deep snow.
So the peak chosen was Mt Robertson (1047m), part of the Oxford range of hills near the Ashley River north of Oxford itself.
After the first heavy snowfalls the skifields were screaming. Not only did avalanches destroy a lot of the club field’s lift tows, but there were numerous stories of worse weather to come… and it always comes at the weekend to annoy those who work 5 day weeks!
After the heavy snows of the last week in June left a lingering sense in the air. I needed to take advantage of these conditions and get back into the mountains ASAP for an epic adventure.
The plan was worked on throughout the week with Dave (currently striving for twelve 2000m+ mountains in the year) and we had a summit, a route and a camp location for an overnight epic adventure.
So as New Zealand gets some of the worst snowfalls in the last two decades, the 52 Peaks Challenge must go on. With the rain pouring down in Christchurch, we set out early this weekend to try and conquer the snow and another summit.
With cross-country skis (for some) in tow and snow chains packed in the 4×4 our attempt was going to be on Mt Somers (1687m) in central Canterbury.
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Peak 22: Ben More
Woohoo! Back in Canterbury and ready for another peak. This time my old favourite, Ben More. I’ve tried on 2 previous occasions to tick off this mountain and it seems reluctant to want to be bagged… so I thought I’d try again this weekend.
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Peak 20: Mt Isobel
So Peak 20! How time flies… and up to Hanmer Springs once again (the alpine village holds numerous sporting events in the area throughout the year). The Mt Isobel Challenge was on today’s menu, a mountain/trail duathlon.
Gratuitous peak of the week. After not successfully completing a peak for two weeks now, I decided to bag a classic. Foggy Peak (1741m) lies next to Porter’s Pass, the gateway to the Southern Alps from Christchurch…
So instead of doing a peak this weekend, I turned my attention to a last minute entry into the Hanmer Springs half-marathon; a hilly, trail half marathon in the foothills of the Lewis Pass Range. I was offered a lift to Nelson with JJ and Richard Ussher (who were competing in the Rollos 24hr Adventure […]
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Peak 18: Mt Sinclair
Mt Sinclair sits a long way back (part of the Sinclair Range) next to the Two Thumbs ski range, north of Lake Tekapo and is a chain of peaks over 2000m in altitude. Mt Sinclair itself, named after Dr Sinclair, who, back in 1861 was Colonial Secretary to the New Zealand Government. He, along with his friend – Julius von Haast, principle geologist (and also famous for the Haast Pass being named after him) in the upper Rangitata, were surveying the river before his horse bolted and he reached an untimely demise. Still, his legacy lives on in the mountain range, and what a stunning range it is.
Winter is coming. That’s what all ‘Game of Thrones’ fans are shouting at the moment – but it’s also true of New Zealand’s seasons for the 52 Peaks Challenge. This weekend we had the first dump of snow in the Torlesse and Craigieburn Ranges, not a lot but enough to sugar coat the peaks above 1200m, two of which I was climbing.
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Peak 13: Mt Cloudsley
So a trip to Castle Hill Village for the weekend. The ideal break from the city life and a great time for… a spot of mountain biking along the Hogs Back and of course some 52 peaks running time (!) all next to the world famous Kura Tawhiti (Castle Hill).
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Peak 12: Big Ben
Back to Canterbury this week with another peak from the Korowai/Torlesse Tussocklands Park, this time for number 12 out of 52 peaks… Big Ben (1416m).